Rédaction Africa Links 24 with ANGONOTÍCIAS
Published on 2024-03-01 16:23:20
The São Vicente case. Angola was not notified of the opinion of UN experts
Angola was not notified of the opinion of UN experts on the São Vicente case, said today the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), adding that they are trying to recover assets that are still in Switzerland and Singapore.
In a response to Lusa on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 2024 judicial year, which took place in Luanda, Helder Pitta Grós emphasized that the opinion was related to the period when the Portuguese-Angolan businessman was in preventive detention.
“That working group considered that his detention, because it was not done by a judge, was somewhat illegal, but at that moment when he was in preventive detention we did not yet have the figure of the investigating judge in force,” he explained.
The action was taken in accordance with the law in force at the time, when it was still the Public Ministry that applied the measure of preventive detention, a situation that was overcome with the creation of investigating judges, he said, adding that the São Vicente process “observed the various appeals filed by his lawyers, to the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court, to the Constitutional Court”, being an act of sovereignty of Angola.
“As such, the opinion of the working group came too late,” he stressed. Pitta Grós said that the Angolan government was not notified of the opinion, as would be mandatory, before its public disclosure, so they did not respond to the entity.
“What we are seeing is an inversion. There was publicity, I don’t know why, and to this day the Angolan state has not been notified. We were not notified, we cannot respond,” highlighted the Attorney General. Pitta Grós also revealed that, according to the sentence, which determines the delivery of São Vicente’s assets to the State, Angolan authorities are working with the governments of Switzerland and Singapore so that the assets and values in those countries “can be made available to the Angolan State,” admitting contacts also with Portugal on this matter in the future.
In mid-February, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the detention of the Portuguese-Angolan businessman Carlos São Vicente was arbitrary and called for his immediate release and compensation.
The Portuguese-Angolan businessman Carlos São Vicente was sentenced on March 24, 2022, to nine years in prison for the crimes of embezzlement, tax fraud, and money laundering, as well as ordered to pay compensation of 500 million dollars (464 million euros).
Regarding the former boss of Sonangol and former Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente, he said that the process “takes its time” and also depends on international instances. “We will need a lot of international cooperation and answers do not always come in a timely manner, in the time we need. We will have to wait a little longer to be able to provide clearer information one of these days,” he said.
The PGR confirmed in January the opening of a criminal case against Manuel Vicente related to active corruption, money laundering, and document forgery, within the scope of Operation Fizz.
Pitta Grós was also asked about the Freedom House report released on Thursday, which placed Angola among a group of African countries “not free,” responding that he had not seen the document, but that he will read the contents to evaluate the reasons given. Regarding the speeches at the opening of the judicial year, including suspicions about judges and the independence of the courts, he considered them “relevant” topics that can in some way “reflect reality.”
“When we talk about the independence of the Justice organs, that independence has to be concretized in the ability to manage financial means (…) and, in fact, currently, we have had some difficulties,” admitted the PGR. For Pitta Grós, swift, dynamic, and citizen-oriented justice must be supported by financial conditions that are “not fully realized.”
Read the original article (Portuguese) on Angonoticias
